Taxonomy
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae Laicharting, 1781
Subfamily: Vespinae Laicharting, 1781
Genus: Vespa Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Vespa bicolor Fabricius, 1787
Common names: black shield wasp
Background
Vespa bicolor has a distinctively marked black and yellow thorax, with a largely yellow metasomametasoma:
the posterior part of the body
. The Vespa species V. auraria, V. bicolor, V. simillima, V. velutina, and V. vivax are considered part of the V. bicolor group. This morphologically similar group of species is native to southern and eastern Asia (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226.
Distribution
Vespa bicolor is native to India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27..
Diagnostic characteristics
To identify the genus:
- both pronotal and pretegular carinae present
- head vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
with the distance from posterior ocellusocellus:
single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
to the posterior margin of vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
more than twice the distance between the posterior ocelliocelli:
single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
and the compound eye
- basal basal:
originating at the foundation of a structure
metasomal segment anteriorly rounded
- forewing forewing:
the front wing attached to the middle thoracic segment
prestigma three times or more as long as the pterostigma (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
To identify the species:
- pretegular carina incomplete
- female pronotal carina interrupted by the pronotal pit
- male apicalapical:
near or at the apex or end of any structure
margins of the sixth and seventh metasomal sternasterna:
the plates on the underside of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a specific segment, like S1, S2, etc.
with deep semicircular emargination
- clypeus clypeus:
sutures
yellow, without dark markings
- mesoscutellum and metanotum entirely or mainly yellow; vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
black (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
- antenna antenna:
a slender moveable sensory organ located on the head above the clypeus
black and legs brownish dorsally (Dorji et al. 2017)(Dorji et al. 2017):
Dorji P, T Gyeltshen, W Klein, amp; T Nidup. 2017. New records of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespinae: Vespa and Provespa ) from Bhutan. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9 (4): 10102ndash;10108.
Biology/Life cycle
Vespa bicolor prey on honeybees and occasionally hover flies (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020; Sung et al. 2014). It builds nests in trees or on or in man-made structures, but overall, very little is known about the nesting behavior of V. bicolor (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226.
May be confused with
Vespa multimaculata
- V. multimaculata clypeusclypeus:
sutures
has a black mark (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Vespa bellicosa
- V. bellicosa clypeusclypeus:
sutures
has a black mark (Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Vespa auraria, V. simillima, V. velutina, V. vivax
- Female and male mesoscutellum and metanotum usually not entirely or largely yellow, often without yellow markings; if largely yellow then the vertexvertex:
the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
has a posterior yellow bandband:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
(Archer 1994)(Archer 1994):
Archer ME. 1994. A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa . Insect Systematics and Evolution 24: 469ndash;478. doi: 10.1163/187631293X00226
Known introductions
Vespa bicolor has been introduced to Taiwan (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27..
